He made full admissions to possessing 84 grams of methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, that was seized from a car he was travelling in on August 22 last year.

The total street value of the ice was estimated to be between $60,000 to $80,000.

Kennedy-Hunt, from Geelong, was arrested at the scene but escaped and ran into bushland near Campbells Creek. He was arrested again on August 23 and found to have a semi-automatic pistol down his pants.

At the time of the arrest Kennedy-Hunt was serving a suspended prison sentence for earlier drug=trafficking offences.

The Bendigo County Court heard he had been in the Melbourne Remand Centre for 378 days. He could now face an extended term of imprisonment, with the crown outlining a sentencing range of four to five years, with a two- to three-year non-parole period.

Defence counsel acting for Kennedy-Hunt, Deanna Caruso, said her client was a young man whose life had “gone down the wrong path”.

Kennedy-Hunt played in the TAC Cup under-18s league and trained with numerous AFL clubs before moving to South Australia to play football.

In 2010 he was arrested in Adelaide for trafficking ecstasy and methamphetamine, and handed a suspended prison sentence.

His twin brother Bart Kennedy-Hunt told the court his brother had “taken a bad turn” and he was hanging out with the “deads***s of society”.

“He somehow managed to find himself in trouble with the law, with drugs, bike clubs... he just lost all direction in his life.

“I’m glad he was caught because if he wasn’t he probably wouldn’t be here with us.”

Ms Caruso argued that Kennedy-Hunt’s supportive family, his early guilty plea and good chance of rehabilitation should be taken into account in sentencing.

Crown prosecutor Peter Jones said the fact he was still serving a suspended sentence and that he was trafficking a major quantity of ice warranted a substantial penalty. “This drug causes great problems in the community, in this region in particular,” he said.